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Photos: UFC Fight Night 136 official weigh-ins

Murtazaliev (14-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) landed a big body kick in the first round, and things seemed to go downhill for Dollaway (17-9 MMA, 11-9 UFC) after that. Eventually, Murtazaliev put Dollaway with strikes – even though referee Herb Dean let Dollaway hear the horn to go to the third round. But when Dollaway told Dean he was done, the fight was over.

The middleweight bout closed out the preliminary card of today’s UFC Fight Night 136 event at Olympic Stadium in Moscow. It streamed on UFC Fight Pass.

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Dollaway pushed forward early and pressed Murtazaliev to the outside. Dollaway landed a right kick, then settled in and started looking for a bigger opening. He landed a punch to the body, then dove for a takedown and brought Murtazaliev to the canvas and into side control. Murtazaliev tried to reverse position, then scrambled back to his feet.

Murtazaliev landed a big left kick to the lever and Dollaway was hurt by it. Murtazaliev looked for his own takedown and got it, but Dollaway worked for a guillotine choke from his back. After 45 seconds, Dollaway finally gave up on the choke and Murtazaliev went to work on top from side control. Dollaway wrestled back to his knees, then got back to his feet with 75 seconds left. Murtazaliev landed a pair of knees to the body, then brought the fight back to the canvas and landed some big elbows from on top.

Murtazaliev landed a spinning back kick 45 seconds into the second round, but Dollaway wisely got a takedown despite Murtazaliev using the fence to try to avoid it. Dollaway got to full mount, then took Murtazaliev’s back. But Murtazaliev avoided trouble for a moment. Dollaway went after a Peruvian necktie and appeared to have it close, but Murtazaliev wriggled out of it. Murtazaliev got to full mount – then used the fence to give himself better position and got a warning from Dean.

Murtazaliev landed big knees to the body while Dollaway covered up and looked worn out. A knee to the head came after Dollaway got to his feet. With a minute left, Murtazaliev kept the pressure on and dropped punches on Dollaway while he covered up on the canvas.

Dollaway had no answers and continued to cover up, then turtled up onto his stomach. Dean continued to tell Dollaway to answer back, even though Dollaway was making no effort to fight back and covered up in what seemed to be a pretty obvious signal he was done. But Dean didn’t stop the fight, and somehow Dollaway survived to hear the horn. When Dollaway couldn’t make it to the stool, Dean asked him twice if he could fight – and Dollaway said he was done.

That gave Murtazaliev the TKO win in a fight that almost certainly should have been stopped by Dean much earlier than allowing it to go to the horn.

Murtazaliev won for the third straight time. Dollaway is back in the loss column after a modest two-fight winning streak.